Post a comment with your favorite and worst moments of 2011.
Websites
Motel New Yorker
I’m from Ohio. I call it home and always will. But, there were three years in the mid 60′s that took me to Miami, Florida. Dad decided we should pack up all our worldly possessions and drive 1,100 miles south, right behind hurricane Cleo.
We had a big, old Chrysler and a station wagon, pulling a trailer. This was actually our second trip. The first time, we drove down the Treasure Coast to Miami to find a motel to buy. Mom and dad had pretty much decided on one along US 1 in Miami. When we stopped for gas, dad asked the guy pumping the gas if he knew a good place to stay. (Remember when the gas station attendant pumped the gas?) His answer: “The Motel New Yorker.” That was the motel they were about to buy! That stretch of Biscayne Boulevard was one motel after another. Why did he pick that one? There must have been something special about it. That sealed the deal for dad.
Sure they were making the right choice, they bought the motel. We moved into the manager’s apartment behind the office, plus the next 2 motel rooms. It was crowded, but it was temporary. After a year, we moved to a home in North Miami.
The motel did well, especially during “the season.” Those were the winter months. Vacationers stayed for several days or a week. But, some people stayed all winter. Dad said they were business owners. Either they were retired or they were able to leave their business in the hands of their employees.
Originally, the motel looked like this in 1953 when it was built:
I got to thinking about the motel and all the changes thru the years. The neighborhood was good when we were there in the 60′s. The motel was named the New Yorker to attract visitors from New York. Miami was a popular destination for them. After mom and dad sold it, the neighborhood deteriorated and so did the motel. There were a couple of name changes that I’m aware of. The Motel New Yorker became the Motel Quebec. I’m guessing demographics changed and more visitors were coming from Canada. Or maybe the motel was bought by Canadians. And it was also called Davis Motel for a while.
But, I heard there was a restoration project along Biscayne Boulevard. Curiosity got the best of me and I googled MOTEL NEW YORKER MIAMI. To my surprise, the Motel New Yorker has been renovated and there is even a website to explore: www.HotelNewYorkerMiami.com . The owners, Walter and Shirley Figueroa, have done a great job restoring the motel with a retro look. Visit their site for more information and a photo gallery.
Today, the Motel New Yorker looks like this:
Photos compliments of www.TheBorrowedAbode.com
If you’ve ever stayed at the Motel New Yorker in Miami – Or if you know the area and have seen the transformation, add a comment with your memories.
Fall Foliage 2011 – Part 2
I’ve been watching the Fall Foliage map. Northeast Ohio is near peak and quickly approaching the peak. Draped around Cleveland is the Cleveland Metroparks, also known as the Emerald Necklace. You can drive slowly – mostly 25 and 30 MPH – thru the park for hours. The southernmost part of the park is where I chose to take my pictures.
It’s been a spectacular fall. Here are the pictures I took over the last couple of days.
Click the large image to advance the slides.
Hover over the small images and move the cursor left and right to see and choose any image.
I invite you to add a comment with links to your fall foliage photos, too.
Free Digital Subscription
I’m passing along a free, digital, one year subscription to one of four magazines: Women’s Health, Runner’s, Men’s Health or Prevention. I saw it on Twitter this morning. This offer expires December 31, 2011.
I subscribed to Prevention Magazine … One of my favorites. As soon as I subscribed, I had instant access to the magazine. I haven’t had a Prevention Magazine subscription for a while, so I’m really looking forward to it.
Save a tree and the cost of a subscription. And when you subscribe, leave a comment and let me know which magazine you chose and why.
Telemarketing Robocalls
The other day, I got 11 telemarketing calls. I’m on the Do Not Call list, but that doesn’t seem to matter. They call my home phone, then my 800 number. The calls are recordings, urging me to join their program to make “legitimate” & “automated” calls with the promise of earning thousands of dollars a week. What makes them think I would buy their system when they make me pay for their commercial? Because I have an 800 number, it’s free for others to call me, but I pay for every minute.
So, what are they selling? I think most of them are selling the program that makes these robocalls. They’re more than annoying. They’re frustrating! There’s no way to avoid them. And there’s no way to stop them. I’ve checked with Vonage, my land line phone company and my toll free company.
When I posted this on my Facebook wall, it started a discussion of what these calls really are and what we can do about them. I learned about LeadNetPro, an online program that you can buy for $397, plus a monthly charge. I watched a LeadNetPro video. With a few mouse clicks, they can choose a company and narrow it by country, state or city. The program scrapes the Internet and extracts phone numbers, addresses and email addresses. Then, the program robocalls each number and plays a prerecorded message. Now that I know how they’re compiling their lists, I don’t think pressing 9 will help. It’s too easy to just generate another list.
I shouldn’t be getting these calls. I’m on the Federal Trade Commission‘s (FTC) Do Not Call list. According to their site: “The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) amended the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) to give consumers a choice about whether they want to receive most telemarketing calls. As of October 1, 2003, it is illegal for most telemarketers or sellers to call a number listed on the National Do Not Call Registry.” Telemarketers and sellers are required to register with the FTC and search the Do Not Call Registry every 31 days. They must “drop from their call lists the phone numbers of consumers who have registered.” “Violators could be fined up to $16,000 per incident.”
My Facebook friend, Jennifer Fisher, has taken a proactive approach and shared her system with me. According to Jennifer . . .
I actually listen to the message now, where as I used to just press 9 and hang up. Every second that recorded message plays, they are paying an additional charge. If you’re going to use the system then pay for the privilege of annoying me.
Some of them give a website so I go to that website.
If there is a contact email address down at the bottom, it is usually going to be directed to the owners of the program, not the voice spammer. Sometimes I have to dig through the Terms of Service to find it, but if I do, I send the owners an email suggesting they stop their voice spammer from calling me… give the name of the person, their phone number, time they called, etc…
And I also let them know if they do not STOP the person from abusing our phone numbers, I will report them to the FTC and their Attorney General’s office.
In most cases, what these people are doing is in violation of their contract, they just don’t take the time to read it. And because we don’t take a stand, they just keep doing it and doing it.
If it’s an email spammer, and they’re hocking a Network Marketing Company, I’m forwarding the email to that company with the same message. I don’t know this person, didn’t ask for information… They’re scraping email addresses and phone numbers off the internet. Stop them NOW !
I agree with Jennifer and I’m going to follow her advice. I’ll explain what I’m doing in the next post.
Related posts:
• Do Not Call Registry
• Phishing Scam
